Wang X, Zhao NQ, Sun YX, et al. - To assess the efficacy of treating ulcerative colitis with acupuncture, researchers analyzed data from randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) comparing acupuncture to conventional medicine or comparing acupuncture in combination with conventional medicine vs conventional medicine in patients suffering from ulcerative colitis. These studies were identified from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Chinese CBM Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese VIP Information, and Wanfang Database. A total of 13 RCTs with 1,030 participants, including 515 in the acupuncture group and 515 in the control group, were analyzed. Findings indicate the likely effectiveness of both acupuncture alone and acupuncture combined with conventional medicine in treating ulcerative colitis vs conventional medicine. Compared to mesalazine, acupuncture combined with mesalazine showed better clinical effect (improved clinical symptoms, colonoscopy results and stool examination results) and better colonoscopy curative effect. Compared to the combination of metronidazole and sulfasalazine, acupuncture showed better clinical effect. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between groups. Because of high or unclear risk of bias of the included trials, it is necessary to interpret these findings cautiously.